I woke up with a knot in my back just the other day.  I must have slept crooked.   It’s amazing how we can do damage to ourselves even in our sleep!

I could also feel pulling on my hip bone as well as the front of my neck and had pain in the back/top of my head and tenderness under my arm when I pressed on it.

I pressed into all of those areas and I also pressed into the muscles on and along my breastbone.  I used the “shotgun approach” (pressing everywhere) since I wasn’t sure what exactly started it.  My knot was gone by the end of the day.

And, you see, finding the CAUSE of your knot is a big part of the battle.

That’s why I created the Knots In Your Back program for natural relief.  (<– click here.)

And since everything in your body is attached, every part has an effect on every other part.

Using pressure on tender areas is part of the massage family of natural therapies.

Using a tennis ball can also be really helpful and so can having someone “pinch” the muscle at the side of your body.   Pinching muscles is part of the massage family, too.

In a very small nutshell:

1.  Release the muscles that are causing your knot.

2.  Stretch the muscles in the front of your body.

3.  Start to strengthen the muscles in your back (the Simple Strengthening video in the Knots program will help.)

If little seems to help, you must suspect the muscles on the sides of your neck.  Besides pressing into them you can also use ice on each side of your neck from the base of your skull behind your ear to the notch in your collar bone at the middle of your chest.

Wait until your knot settles down before hitting the gym again.  The first step is to release the muscles and then begin rehab and stretching and lastly, the gym.

I hope this helps get you going on knocking out your knot.  I know it’s no fun.

And remember to pay rapt attention to your body.  You may be able to sense areas of tightness or tenderness that you hadn’t noticed because you were so  focused on the miserable knot in your upper back.